A Single Roll of the Dice

by Trita Parsi (Yale)

From leaked cables, confidential documents, and dozens of interviews, Parsi reconstructs the history of political trauma that underlies the United States’ relationship with Iran. Memories of coups, hostage crises, and the denunciations of the Bush Administration have left bad faith on both sides, which seems to preclude any hope of reconciliation. Parsi’s detailed, if sometimes repetitive, account also shows us the geopolitical winds that move the diplomatic air: Israel, France, and many members of Congress cry for “crippling sanctions”; Iran’s 2009 election protests split the theocratic élite and emboldened the government’s critics, a circumstance insuring that any sign of compromise with the U.S. comes to seem unacceptable evidence of weakness. Parsi dwells mostly on issues of trust and pride and might have devoted more attention to the influence of moneyed interests and oil, but he explores an important subject in depth and with clarity, providing a useful view of current concerns about a nuclear Iran. ♦

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